Syracuse football 5-star target, the No. 1 RB, says recruitment ‘100% open’

After I penned a column not too long ago that Syracuse football had offered a 2023 five-star prospect, who is rated the No. 1 running back in his class by some recruiting services, understandably some of my fellow Orange fans chimed in that they thought the ‘Cuse has little to no shot at landing Rueben Owens ll from Texas.

I get it. The Orange hasn’t exactly been stellar on the field in recent years, and the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Owens holds more than 40 scholarship offers, including from some of the heavyweights in college football.

Then again, I credit Syracuse football coaches for getting into the recruiting fray for Owens. As I always say, you can’t prevail in a recruiting battle over a top-flight prospect unless you offer him first.

Plus, Owens did recently send out a tweet that read in part, “Recruiting 100% open.” Is the ‘Cuse likely a long shot for him? Probably. But does the Orange have a shot at picking up Owens? Hey, I’m a believer!

Syracuse football five-star target Rueben Owens ll is keeping his options open.

Despite the frustrations of many ‘Cuse fans over the team’s performance for numerous seasons now, let’s remember that Syracuse football does have a track record of producing stellar running backs.

Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis. Floyd Little. Jim Brown. Larry Csonka (maybe more of a fullback). Joe Morris. Just to name a few. And, this past season, Orange running back Sean Tucker broke the school’s single-season mark for rushing yards, and he was named an All-American.

I recognize that the ‘Cuse moniker as “Running Back U” stems in large part from performances by Syracuse football RBs decades ago, but Tucker’s output in 2021, hopefully, is something that might intrigue Owens.

I know that the odds are probably low for Syracuse football to land Owens, who is a junior at El Campo High School in El Campo, Texas. The 2021 National Junior of the Year according to MaxPreps, Owens this past term rushed for 2,989 yards and scored 46 rushing touchdowns.

At one time, Owens was verbally committed to Texas. But his recruitment, these days, appears to potentially be wide open, even if his other offers include from squads such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M, Auburn, Baylor, Wisconsin, Houston, Penn State and USC.

Per his bio on the 247Sports Web site, besides his Orange offer in early February, others to recently offer Owens are Grambling State and Prairie View A&M.

Most of the primary recruiting services rank him as the No. 1 or No. 2 running back in the 2023 class. The majority of recruiting Web sites view him as a top-25 to a top-50 overall prospect in this cycle.

As we recently noted, the ‘Cuse did snag a couple of four-star commits in its 2022 class, although I’m the first to admit that Owens’ national rankings are on a whole different playing field.

I’m trying not to put on my Orange-tinted glasses here, because, yeah, it’s probably going to prove tough for Syracuse football to win out. But Owens says his recruitment is open, and I can dream, right?